Strongman, training for Boxing (TX_iron)

[Dani_Shugart]

@TX_iron

Yeah it seems like such a unique thing and very holistic in terms of being prepared for anything.

So dang true.

@TX_iron

I’m lucky enough that my range has personal bays, so my buddy and I (we’re going to go teams) typically lug kettlebells, a sandbag, and a sled out there and while wearing either full kit or just a heavy vest, do something like:

while wearing vest, 3-5 x 5 rounds of:
2 sandbag loads to truck bed
25 yard sled drag
2 shots .223
run 25 yards up to 5 KB clean and press
2 shots with 9mm
run back to start

I’m jealous!!! That looks like a great way to prepare, and also a blast.

@TX_iron

Truthfully, it’s the shooting portion I need the most work on. My accuracy is maybe 60%, which’ll add 40 seconds to time on average.

It’s amazing how quickly you’ll see yourself progress with time and practice. Speaking of that, I’m needing to do some few dry fire sessions around the house this week to prepare for a less cool competition than what you’re doing. ha!

@TX_iron

so I’ve been supplementing with archery practice during conditioning rounds.

WHOA. Archery too?! And that’s a fantastic idea.

@TX_iron

Truthfully, I am super into lifting and my buddy is super into guns, and this seemed like a great way to do something together. Both of us are actually prediabetic, and heart issues run in both of our families, so this will really make us focus on health in a cool, “practical” way.

You guys are awesome. I’m thoroughly impressed with what you’re doing to stay healthy and physically prepared for anything. WOW.

Also, incredible log in general.

[TX_iron]

Lifting
Did Bench 5s, Clean/dead 5s, and Press 531s… all circuit-based

Cardio & mobility
Did some form of “easy” cardio nearly every day. Mostly running, “airdyne” and sun salutations

Wednesday - 4.3
Warm-up focused on getting down to and up off the group

A1) SGHP from hang
ramped to 5x5 @ 165

A2) 5 deep stretch full ROM chins
A3) 10-20 pull-aparts
A4) 2 vertical jumps
A5) 5 arrows at 20 yards

B1) Squats
ramped to 265 x 5

B2) dips
Red band x 10, black x 10, purple x10, then drop set working back down to bodyweight

C) Front squats + calf raises
EMOM for 8 minutes - 3 x 190

D1) 21-15-9 50lb single arm DB snatch
D2) Neck raises w 35lb plate

Yesterday 4.4.23
3 mile fartlek run and sun salutations before and after

Notes: Came down with a nasty migraine last night and feeling it this morning and my joints and low back are feeling the burn. I think I am under recovered. Today or Saturday is Bench day, and planning on a slower pace workout and some easy assistance, and easy conditioning.

@T3hPwnisher Ha, that’s intense! A literal half marathon loaded carry, except you love the implement unconditionally, even though it wiggles and complains. You should get one of those 13.1 stickers and fuse it with a “baby on board” sticker. I imagine a Goku level of feasting.

It wasn’t as intense as that, but we recently went to Colorado with the kids, and the same kid demanded I carry them up around 300ft. worth of stairs.

@Dani_Shugart

Yeah it really is fun. There are endless options, and I just learned of the competition events structuring and it’s pretty varied, so there’s going to be lots of cool combos down the pipe! It sucks in the Summer when it’s heat indexing 110-120, but the “suck” is totally part of the fun.

Definitely - I just need to get out there more. It’s my buddy’s busy season and I’ve been pretty stacked as well, so we haven’t been able to meet up at the range in longer than we’d both like.

That’s a good idea on dry fire. I never do that really, and I hear they even make laser bore sights so you can see where you’d of hit.

Yup, archery! As a kid my dad and I traveled around for competitions, and after he passed I really wanted to get back into it for myself and to one day do it with my kids. Combining it with my lifting checks so many boxes. I desperately need my bow tuned though, I’m shooting 6 inches to the right at 20 yards.

Thank you very much for the very kind words. We’ve got a way to go, but we are on the path (or, rather, the rucking trail)!

EDIT: More notes/thoughts

• Though health is front and center vs years of bigger/stronger/leaner, i look and feel better than I ever have. My wife is adamant that this is the best I’ve ever looked and I feel less beat up (generally) and very athletic. I’m 175lbs now (still 6’), down about 10lbs from my previous baseline. visible 8 pack, but the show muscles are accentuated. A big piece I think is I’ve cut the amount of alcohol I drink by about half.

• On this note: 531 Forever is the perfect fit for me right now. It combines everything I care about doing, rolls it into a simple package, and allows for a tremendous amount of tinkering and customization

• For any garage-gymmer, I can’t recommend this product enough. It’s called DumbellConnect, and as in the name, you can connect your dumbells together to make one heavier one. It get’s iffy on DB incline, but butter for rows and carries

• Example of how much practice I need. Got an arrow head lodged in my training tire

• Also, springtime in Texas kicks ass. Cool 60-80 degrees, bluebonnets and birds chirping.
  
  

[T3hPwnisher]

@TX_iron

You should get one of those 13.1 stickers and fuse it with a “baby on board” sticker.

Oh my god that’s genius! I am so stealing that idea, haha.

Excited to see how this all shapes out for you dude!

[TX_iron]

Haha, you definitely earned it so please steal away! I think kids are like Milo’s bull, except when they get heavy enough we stop being cool.

Thanks my friend! Really excited for this competition. New challenges really help training longevity.

[TX_iron]

Today 4.6.23

Wenning warm-up: 3x25 DB rows, DB flys, Bench w/ bar

A1) Bench
135 x5
175 x 5
195 x 5
220 x 5

A2) Glenn B shrugs 10 x bench weight

B1) CG Bench - 5x10x175
B2) Kneeling ab wheel
B3) 4 way neck work

C1) 5 x 10 seated front raises
C2) 5 x 10 seated lateral raises
C3) 5 x 10 Seated rear raises
^ all w/ 15 lbs

Finisher
90lb (about 1/2 bodyweight) sled forward drag 1/3 mile. I rigged it up so I could push my littler (20lb) kid around the block. Took just shy of 15 minutes and was a slog. Pics below.

Cool down
sun salutations. Getting good at these

[TX_iron]

More conditioning & mobility - Favorite is 5 miles for time or 100 calories for time on “airdyne”

Yesterday

Warm-up & jumps

A) Power Clean 175 x 8, 7, 5 (rest pause)

B1) Deadlift - up to 360x5, drop to 280 and minor snap in back from poor bracing, so no supplemental

C1) 3-5 sets of shrugs + calf raises at 280lbs
C2) band pull aparts

D) 1x40 push-ups
E) Hanging leg raises mechanical drop set

F… for finisher)
10 x 50 yard keg carries @ 105lbs, rest pause (15 breaths between carries)

Today - Tactical Games Practice

Back is messed up from yesterday, so no loading or overhead today.

3 rounds, wearing full kit (42lb vest, Ar-15 + 2 magazines, Glock Gen 4 + 2 magazines, tactical belt):

• 5 rounds .223, standing @ 75 yards
• 50 yard forward sled drag (70lbs)
• 5 rounds 9mm, standing @ 25 yards
• 50 yard reverse sled drag
• 5 rounds .223, standing @ 75 yards
• 50 yard forward sled drag
• 5 rounds 9mm, standing @ 25 yards
• 50 yard reverse sled drag

^we practiced commands: "shooter ready, “make ready,” “shooter clear”

Accuracy was shotty but it was super windy

[TX_iron]

Leader 2 - BABY

Knocked out 3s week

Note: back hasn’t been right for a couple of weeks now, so switched to chain deadlifts (+40lb at top) to lower the TM on the lower back, while simultaneously raising the TM on the upper back

Today - Press 5s
warm up

A1) Press up to 135x5
A2) 5x10 chins (chin, pull, commando right, commando left, chin)
A3) 5x2 Jumps over incline bench

B) RP Glenn B shrugs w/135

C1) incline 5x10x135
C2) reverse flys on incline 5x20x15
C3) 10 sit-ups
C4) 4 arrows at 10 yards
C5) seated calf raises with 60lb DB on knee 5x20/leg

D) 2x25 front neck raises, 2x25 rear neck raises w/25lbs
E) Wrist roller

Bicep stretch - carried my kid in a basket for a quick 1/3 mile

[mr.v3lv3t]

Yo dude! Long time no talk but I saw the title change to your log and had to pop in here.

I’m looking at doing the team event in NH this year with a SF buddy. What class are you guys competing in?

[TX_iron]

@mr.v3lv3t Hey amigo! Glad to hear from you.

Oh that’s awesome - I hope you, pull the trigger. For folks who’ve been lifting a long time, it’s nice to chase some novel goals. That’s great to be able to to it with an SF guy, and I’m sure his experience will be able to help with lots of little things that add up. Maybe I’ll catch you at one of these one day.

We looked at NH too, but my buddy is in agriculture and harvest time is late summer down here, so we have to do it in early fall. The only class available to teams in SC is the “tactical” class aka intermediate, which is fine as we’re both new to it and have been prepping the appropriate gear like red dot sights & scopes. Eventually I’d like to go elite, but only a couple events seem to have an option for teams to compete across classes.

---

today

Warm up
1 mile walk, sun salutations & band work. 10 jumps onto truck bed

A1) Band pull aparts 4x25
A2) plate raises 3x10 x 45

B1) SGHP 5x5x150
B2) kneeling ab wheel 5x10
B3) neck raises 4x25x25

C) Squats - up to 240x5

EMOM 8 minutes
D1) Front squats + calf raises 3x170
D2) 6 chinups
*did 4 FS and 8 chinups last round to make an even 25 & 50

E) calf raises and wrist roller

[mr.v3lv3t]

Haha he definitely has the “no quit” gene which may be the most valuable contribution.

From what I understand it’s 85% crossfit event and 15% shooting, which is a bit of a bummer but that’s okay. Be cooler if it was closer to like 60/40 or even 70/30.

Idk if we’ll go tactical or elite yet.

Would definitely be cool to link up at one! I think there’s a place down closer to you called Proving Grounds which is a closer split between the two activities. Idk how many TGs I’ll do just because the cost is pretty high for what it is.

[TX_iron]

@mr.v3lv3t That may just be the biggest advantage of all.

Yeah That’s what I’m gathering… my buddy attended and there’re some breakdowns of event categories online similar to strongman event categories of “overhead, deadlift, carry, load, etc.” but like a run event, a shoot event, a carry event, etc.

Elite seems cooler, for the same reason “open” seems cooler than novice. Like winning on novice is cool, but you’re still winning in novice. But teams competitiors seem like there’s less optionality.

Yeah there are! Proving grounds, and it seems there’s one yearly somewhere in central TX. We wanted to go to that, but schedule didn’t work out. If you do end up down here give me a holler.

---

Finished off Bench & Dead 5s week, Press, Squats & Bench 3s week. Going to try to get in deadlifts today.

Bench workout from yesterday:

Warm-up: mobility, 100 single leg calf raises, 100 neck, 100 pull-aparts

Bench up to 225x5, then 5x10x175
Did 0.5 miles on the “airdyne” between each set for a total of 5 miles

Notes: Not much “tactical” training this week. Kids have been around, and the mosquitoes are swarming. Like, we literally have to sprint to the car and buckle the kids up once inside.

EDIT - got in deadlift 531s.

A) every 0:15 for 6:00 (24) - power clean 1x170lbs
B) Chain deadlift up to 5x365 at top
C) every 0:15 for 6:00 (25) - chain sumo deadlift 1x290 at top
D) rest pause chins - 15, 6, 4
E) CG psuhups 30 reps
F) serratus situps 26 reps

pullaparts, neck, etc

That’ a wrap an 2 cycles of Building a Bigger Yoke 2.0! Onto the anchor cycle, which is Tnation version of BABY. It makes perfect sense, BABY 2.0 is basically boring but big/strong but sub out half the volume of the squat/deadlift for olympic lifts. The tnation verison uses simplest strength template and PR sets, which in the forever book Jim wendler explicity states that PRs + SST is good to use as an anchor for BBB. So voila.

I backloaded the deload and have a hard stop week one june as I’ll be traveling for work the whole week. Not ideal, but I’m going to jump right into the anchor. I have a long mothers day weekend, so it’ll be four days of no lofting anyway.

[TX_iron]

LIFETIME STRICT PRESS PR

Day 1 of anchor phase

A1) 25 yards sled press (50% bowdyweight)
A2) 25 yards sled row
A3) 25 yard sled forward drag
A4) 25 yard sled reverse drag
A5) 2 jumps onto truck bed
A6) Strict press
45x5
65x5
95x5
105x5
120x5
135x10

Incline (SST)
125x10
145x8
165x6

100 curls, triceps pushdowns, hanging knee raises, calf raises & neck
^upping assistance from 25-50 to 50-100, however JM has mentioned that during the anchor phase that while the assistance volume is higher, the intensity should drop

NOTES
Just… wow. I’ve been training for 20 years, and have never been able to press 135 more than 7-8 times.

I am also 10lbs lighter than I have been in years, sitting at 175 vs 185, though i am way more shredded than I’ve been in probably ever.

ALSO, I’ve been nursing a shoulder impingement, so this came out of nowhere. Turns out, blasting the pressing volume from all angles and beefing up the upper back worked out well.

Shoulder is cranky, but I’ll take the W.

[TX_iron]

Took a four day deload over Mother’s Day Weekend. Back at it

Squats

Warmup
1 mile walk
10 jumps onto truck bed ss
50-100 nordic hamstring curls

A1) SGHP from Hang - sets of three up to 185x6
A2) 100 black band pull aparts

B1) Squats + calf raise - sets of three up to 9x265 (344 est max)
B2) 100 total pushups

C1) Front squats + calf raise - 10x160, 8x190, 6x215
C2) 50 neck raises

D) 65 total Krik rows w/ 135

Easy finisher - 1 mile walk

I rarely post physique pics, but things are going well. My diet is 90% meat/dairy, veggies, fruit and nuts. I am thinking of traditional carbs these days (rice, bread, potatoes) as filler food. I know fruit and veggies are good for me, and meat is too - adding in filler on top of my 10% beer, pizza, junk food feels silly.

[TX_iron]

5s week went off without a hitch.
Friday - shootin’
We sighted in my AR and Glock, and ran some drills with the pistol. It’s so odd, I can ding one steel target after another but when it comes to the anatomical paper target I am all over the place. Clearly it’s mental. I’m really working on NOT jerking when firing but it’s tough to break.

Yesterday - Press
Mowed & edged the lawn, then

A) Press up to 145x8, then 175x1 Lifetime 1rm, roughly a bodyweight press
Tried 185 but didn’t budge much.

B) Incline 135x10, 155x10, 175x5 (should’ve been fives across)

C+) 60 burpee pull-ups, 50 calf raises, 100 neck, 100 band face pulls

NOTE
Again, beat my last press 1rm by at least 10lbs, at a lower bodyweight. Lots of progress, but I’m really starting to feel burnt out with all of the volume.

I signed up for another strongman comp on July 27

Switching my plan a bit. For 6 weeks + 1 deload week, I’ll be running the “2 days/week new template” from beyond. Main lifts are pushed for PRs/Jokers biweekly, and the opposite lift as supplemental for low reps at a higher intensity. Main lifts will keep constant, supplemental will reflect the events, and assistance will be sled drag on upper and front carries (conan) on lower. Either I’ll compete at 181 or 165.

I’ve been blasting with high volume for three months, so this next block will basically be a peaking block with virtually zero extra volume beyond pushing the main lifts and events practice.

Tactical Games prep block will be the “Strength and Conditioning” program from Forever.

After that, I plan on pushing conditioning a little farther for a half marathon on November 2, followed by 6+1 weeks of high volume bulking (specifically, the Widowmaker Challenge program), and then NOTHING during the two weeks of the Christmas/New years stretch.

Mapped out, it’s:

2 cycles - BABY Leader
1 Cycle - BABY Anchor
1 Cycle - 2 Days/week New Template (strongman Comp)
2 Cycles - Strength and Conditioning Leader
1 Cycle - Strength and Conditioning Anchor (Tactical Games)
1 Cycle - 531/Marathon (Half marathon)
2 cycles - Widowmaker Challenge

[TX_iron]

Unfortunately, we have to table Tactical Games until 2025. Logistics weren’t working out, and we figured it’d be better to do one closer and not have to fly commercial with a small arsenal.

Shooting
My buddy has been doing shooting comps and we got a timer to work on draw times. My quickest draw with an accurate shot was 2.36 seconds (elite guys/Doc Holiday types are hitting like 4-5 targets in less time than this for reference)

Fitness

July 27 - 3rd Coast Classic - 1st place (out of 1) 181 class.

I did the training outlined above. I think it was too heavy and too little frequency - lifts felt clunky. Crushed the overhead; pulled 450 easy and back gave out on 550, sled pull was a little light, I zeroed the saxon bar hold, and that conan - whew that conan. I can sometimes take chopy breaths, but at times expanding my diaphram was impossible so towad the end I’d take a breath, run, drop, repeat.

Harbor Half Marathon - November 2

Did a lot of reading on this, & both Wendler & Joe DeFranco had a (roughly) Bench, lower, press setup when beginning a heavy running protocol.

The big four have been beating me up a bit, and Wendler’s latest blog post about backing off the heavy weights and focusing on assistance when plateauing or burning out hit home. I’ve also found that my pressing strength responds very well to moderate load and high volume from lots of angles. My deadlift responds well to pushing the last set hard, but my back is done with heavy squats and deads for a while, so I’ll focus on maintaining lower body strength while driving conditioning via A WS4SB approach. Both authors suggested avoiding maximal weights/strain while running so much. I want to rotate movements to give my joints a break, and since I don’t really know percentages of new movements, I’m going to approach the max effort days as if I’m trying to find a training max for the lift (heaviest weight of clean, fast, “awesome” reps)

Monday
warm-up

15 degree close grip incline / face-pulls
45x5
95x5
115x5
135x5
155x5
185x5
205x4 (3 clean, 4th slow)

BB rows / 15 degree DB press
185 x 10, 10, 8 / 2x15-20, 8-12

Shrugs / curls / overhead triceps
3 x 185x8-12 / 30s & 25s x 8-12 / purple & green bands 15-20

Tuesday - “that’s a funny name for a terrible disease”
2 mile Fartlek run. Tried steady state at first, but calf cramp at 2/3 mile. The closer to sprinting I got, the better my calf felt, and the slower I went the worse it felt.

[TX_iron]

ME Lower
Front squat to bench - up to 245x3
low back & abs
mowed lawn wearing 90lbs

RE Upper
Shoulder focused pump stuff

ME Upper
15 degree incline, 2 board - up to 205x5
triceps death
rowing, shrugging & curling

Lots of running

[TX_iron]

Everyone’s got a plan until they get punched in the mouth
FIGHT NIGHT - September 14

So I got asked to do a charity boxing match, and of course, said yes. I have no formal experience boxing, so it’ll be a microadventure. My opponent outweighs me, but I’ve got a decent gas tank. 3 one minute rounds, 1 minute break in between.

Dropping half marathon training. I need to practice boxing versus hours of road miles.

I linked up with a local boxing gym and had my first session with a coach yesterday.

Wednesday
Punching my big tractor tire for 3x1:1
5 miles on air bike

Thursday - 1 hour boxing class
warm-up, then rounds of:
shadowboxing
heavy bag
jump rope
crazy bag
speed bag
ring rounds working on movement and combos

Thursday - ME Lower
Sumo deadlift / 2-3 jumps onto truck bed
135x3
225x1
315x1
335x5 (last rep moved slow. not a grind, just slow)

Good mornings / Hanging leg raise
3 x 135x10 / 10

Keg carries / shadowboxing
6 x 135lbs x 50 yards / 5-10 jab-jab-hook

[TX_iron]

Went cross country to the mountains & did a whole bunch of hiking. Boxing sessions 1-2x/week. Hoping to spar soon but doing a lot of shadow boxing.

Yesterday

• warm-up med ball throws and a mile walk + shadowboxing
• giant set: 45 degree incline bench / Hang power clean (155 TM for both): 135 x 5/5, 5/5/, 6/4, 4/6
• 5x10 chins (in giant set)

today - recovery & mobility

(upcoming) Wednesday & Thursday - boxing, Friday 2nd weight session

[mr.v3lv3t]

We also had to bail on TTG. Too many things going on between the two of us life wise to be able to justify the money for it. I watched the recap and, though I’m sure we’d have had fun, I don’t feel like we missed much haha.

Good call on the timer! I’m at a consistent 1.7s A zone at 7y right now. Lots of room for improvement there. Need to set my par down to 1.6 and start nailing that in dry fire.

[TX_iron]

Yeah my man, I remember you were training for it as well! That’d be cool to run into each other at one. I think you live in the Northeast right? I’ll probably stick to the Texas one, unless I get good enough to nationally qualify or something. I can’t recall, were you planning on doing teams as well?

Yeah, the cost of the whole deal is a pretty big hurdle, and while I don’t mind tossing $100 at a strongman comp to hit or miss, at the $500-$1000 range the ducks need to be more in a row to justify it all.

Damn man, 1.7 is twice as fast as me, haha. Have you been doing any one gun or two gun comps? Our local range has them and my buddy has done a couple. Super busy time of year for both of us so hoping to get some in during Q4.